ASPECTS REGARDING THE FORESTRY PATTERN AND USE OF THE ALBA IULIA FORESTRY DEPARTMENT

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1 Analele UniversităŃii din Oradea Seria Geografie Year XXIII, no. 1/2013 (June), pp ISSN , E-ISSN Article no ASPECTS REGARDING THE FORESTRY PATTERN AND USE OF THE ALBA IULIA FORESTRY DEPARTMENT Gheorghe ONEA University of Oradea, Armatei Române Street, no. 1, Oradea, Romania, Ph.D. student in Geography, Abstract: The paper approaches issues related to the structure an duse of the forestry stock on the territory of the Alba Iulia Forestry Department. The oucoming results show that within the structure of the forestry stock, 98% of the area is covered by forest. Wihin its composition deciduous species prevail, mainly the beech tree (54%), the common oak tree (7%) and the spruce fir (9%). The forest retrocession carried out according to the Law no. 18/1991, 1/2000 and 247/2005 eventuated in a slight shrink of forested areas and to the fragmentation of the forest sock. Key words: forest stock, structure, use, Forestry Department * * * * * * INTRODUCTION The Forestry department of Alba Iulia is situated within the Apuseni Mountains stretching over the south-western half of the Trascău Mountains to a great extent and their piedmont hills between the Bucerzii and Ighielului Valley and further on the eastern and north-eastern side of the Metaliferi Mts. and the north-western side of the Secașelor Plateau. From an administrative viewpoint it belongs to Alba County and implicitly to the Alba Forestry Department. This interdisciplinary topic is related to geography and forestry and it can be analyzed with the specific methodology of regional geography presented by Cocean (2005). We consider that knowing the structure and use of the forestry stock is of utmost importance in the prospect of particular project implementation concerning the forest protection, preservation and planning from the territory of this forestry department.the issue of forest preservation and protection is justified by the importance which it holds within the environment where it plays a balance role which leads to the environment s quality improvement, the decrease of some negative effects and generally to the set up of a living environment favourable to human society (Tufescu et al., 1982). This concept stems from many studies and laws elaborated by us (Giurgiu, 1978, 1988; Redfearn & Pimm, 1987; Willis & Benson, 1989; Francois, 1991; Badea, 1993; Forestry Code 1996; Leahu, 2001; Bălteanu & Șerban, 2005; Badea et a., 2006; Law no. 46, 2009). METHODOLOGY The interdisciplinary approach of this geography and forestry-related topic makes it both prone to regional geography and to forestry-related researches (the observation, the analysis, the synthesis, the comparison, the statistical method). Related to the observation method we have Corresponding Author

2 164 Gheorghe ONEA initially used direct observation supported by the mapping materials, mainly the topographical maps and currently available references. This stage was followed by the field observation, which eventuated much information related to the forestry stock use and structure. Based on the data gathered on the field, those provided by references and statistics we proceeded to their analysis for the period The statistical-mathematical method laid at the basis of the analysis through which the data obtained from the Forestry Department of Alba Iulia and further information was processed. The data were presented synthetically within tables and maps. Eventually we have used the synthesis method which was applied as reversed to the analysis method through which the content of the forestry stock per species and its use was accomplished. RESULTS Within the structure of the forestry stock the data and information provided by the forestry sock of the Alba Iulia Forestry Department it comes out that the prevailing species within the department are beech and common oak trees followed by hornbeam, spruce, pine, locust, (SC), fir (BR), other different resinous species (DR), hard (DT) and soft-stem (DM) species. Therefore beech and common oak prevail over the species mixture of the forest. Black pine and locust were planted within the former improvement perimeters. It has been noted that the black pine is vulnerable to the wet snow falls which are characteristic for the area. That is why the proliferation of certain more resisting local species is required. From table 1 it comes out that in the ten surveyed years ( ) the percentage of beech, common oak and hornbeam has decreased whereas the proportion of coniferous (spruce, fir) has increased and the other species maintain the same percentage. Table 1. Evolution of the forestry stock structure (%) in 2011 versus 2010 (Data source: Index feature fact sheet of the forestry stock) Species % Year FA GO CA MO PIN SC BR DR DT DM Total Figure 1. Evolution of the forestry stock structure (%) in 2011 versus 2010

3 Aspects Regarding the Forestry Pattern and Use of the Alba Iulia 165 Aspects of forestry vegetation According to the climatic and stationary conditions on the area of the forestry department a few forestry formations and types of wood could be identified such as: fir wood-beech forest (1%); pure/unspoilt mountain beech forest (57%); pure fir wood hills (21%); mixed fir wood (59,6 ha pure common oak wood (18%); common oak-oak wood forests (3%). A part of the wood types cover reduced areas, their existence being determined by micro relief and the acquired topo climate. Forestry stock use The forestry stock is covered in a percentage of 98% with woods. The remaining 2% is represented by the areas which provide for harvest (nursery), production (areas for game nourishment, still waters) needs, which provide for forestry administration needs (areas for forestry production and forestry staff accommodation, forestry roads, forestry warehouses, other areas), areas submitted to forestation, unproductive grounds, areas removed from the forestry stock temporarily (table 2). Table 2. Forestry stock spread per destinations (2001) (Data source: Alba Iulia Forestry Department-general study, 2001) Area References ha % Areas covered with forests 19874,5 98 Areas which cater for harvest needs, of which: 2,3 - Nurseries 2,3 Areas which cater for forestry production needs, of which: -game nourishment -still waters Areas which cater for forestry administration needs, of which: -forestry production areas and forestry staff accommodation -forestry roads -forestry warehouses -other areas 59,9 4,2 46,7 112,8 2,8 71,9 0,5 37,6 Areas submitted to forestation 8,8 - Unproductive areas 268, 4 1 Areas removed from the forestry stock temporarily 34,7 - Forestry stock total 20352,4 100 Following the forested areas according to the species which they host we can note that from the total area of ha, the resinous cover ha (spruce ha; fir ha, further on DR larch, pines) whereas the deciduous forests stretch over the largest area. The prevailing species is beech with ha and oak ( ha), mainly the peduncle oak and the common oak. Other hard wood species ( ha) encountered here are: locust, sycamore maple, ash tree, cherry tree, nut tree. The softwood species (130.8 ha) are featured by linden trees, poplars, locusts (table 3). Referring to the current state of the forest we mention that after the revolutionary events of , in the situation in which the land retorcessions have taken place in three steps according to the laws in foce: Law 18/1991; Law 1/2000; Law 247/2005, the own or public owenership forestry stock has diminished, it has been dismantled and got the shape of a great mosaique. This outcome led to the collapse, in theory, of the prodution units (PU), of units which are desgned to be planned as basic units for the forestry departments management. Badly understood the re-ownership also triggered the degradation of some protected areas and even of the forestry ecosystems (Pop, 2007). - 1

4 166 Gheorghe ONEA Table 3. Forestry stock area (ha) per use category and species (Data source: Alba Iulia Forestry Department-general study, 2001) 1 Forestry fund 20352,4 2 Forest area 19874,5 3 Resinous 2184, 6 4 Spruce of which: outside the area Fir 300,7 7 Dr 25,5 8 Larch 6,9 9 Pine 865,5 10 Decidous 17689,9 11 Beech 12729,3 12 Oak 2522,1 13 Peduncled 43,3 14 Common oak 2402,3 15 Various hardwood species 2307,7 16 Locust 580,4 17 Sycamore maple 128,6 18 Ash tree 10,4 19 Cherry tree 16,8 20 Nut tree 21 Various softwood species 130,8 22 Linden 7,2 23 Poplar 27,0 24 of which: euramerican poplars 0,6 25 -Locust 44,2 26 -of rd.25 in the danube holm and delta 33 other areas total- 477,9 34 Areas which cater for forestry harvest needs 2,3 35 Areas which cater for forestry production needs 50,9 36 Areas which cater for forestry administration needs 112,8 37 Areas reserved for forestation 8,8 38 of which: regeneration category 8,8 39 Unproductive areas 268,4 40 Borderland 41 Areas removed from the forestry stock temporarily 34,7 CONCLUSION Within the forestry stock pattern of the Forestry Department of Alba Iulia, the forested areas amount to 98%; - the forested areas weight is slightly decreasing; - the domination species within the forest are the beech (54%); common oak (7%) and spruce (9%); - the evolution of the forestry stock pattern of the last decade ( ) we can note that the ratio of its composing species has not undergone dramatic changes; - the land retrocession process according to the laws in foce has led to the forestry stock crumbling rendering the latter a mosaic-like shape.

5 Aspects Regarding the Forestry Pattern and Use of the Alba Iulia 167 REFERENCES Badea O., Neagu Șt., Roibu D. (2006) Starea de sănătate a pădurilor din România în perioada anilor , evaluată prin sistemul de monitoring forestier. Revista Pădurilor, nr. 1, an 121, București. Badea O. (1993), Declinul pădurilor este prezent în România. Salvați pădurile României, Ed. Arta Grafică, București. Bălteanu D., Șerban M. (2005), Modificări globale ale mediului, Ed. Coresi, București. Cocean P. (2005), Geografie generală, Ed. a II-a, Presa Universitară Clujeană, Cluj-Napoca. Francois F. (1991), Reflection sur la stabilite des peuplement forestiers, Silva, Belgica, nr.98. Giurgiu V. (1988), Amenajarea pădurilor cu funcții multiple, Ed. Ceres, București. Leahu I. (2001), Amenajarea pădurilor, Ed. Didactică și Pedagogică, București. Pop I. M. (2007), Conservarea habitatelor forestiere și proiectarea în silvicultură, Info Media, nr. 18, București. Redfearn A., Pimm S.L. (1987), Insect outbreaks and community structure, A.P. San Diego, p Tufescu V., Posea Gr., Ardelean A. (1982), Geografia mediului înconjurător, Ed. Didactică și Pedagogică, București Willis K.G., Benson J. F. (1989), Recreational values of forests, Forestry 62, p *** (2001), Studiu general a O.S. Alba Iulia, Jud. Alba. *** ( ), Fișa indicatorilor de caracterizare a fondului forestier a Ocolului Silvic Alba Iulia. Studiu general, D.S. Alba. *** (2005), Legea 247/2005 *** (2008), Codul silvic Legea nr. 46, 19/03/2008 *** (1991), Legea 18/1991 *** (2000), Legea 1/2000 Submitted: Revised: Accepted and published online February 21, 2013 April 25, 2013 May 19, 2013